Posts tagged fashion

Espionage Cosmetics launches premier

Nail-Art Line via Kickstarter

You’ve seen the Espionage Cosmetics team at every con you’ve attended in the last 3 years. You’ve played with the tiny Jayne hats that top the Browncoats collection, and you’ve squeed over the facebook pics of Bonnie Burton and Felicia Day with the shadows as you sign up for giveaways hosted by your favorite bloggers. Here’s what’s next from your favorite purveyors of geek-chic cosmetics…NAILED IT! On August 5, 2013, Espionage Cosmetics—the makers of hugely popular mineral make-up by and for nerds—launched a 30-day Kickstarter campaign (www.EspionageCosmetics.com/Kickstarter) for their latest product line, “NAILED IT!,” the world’s first nail-art line designed exclusively for nerds and lovers of all things glitter. 8 nerd-inspired designs are printed on high-quality, self-adhesive nail wraps that can be filed to a custom fit, with the potential to unlock up to 24 nerd-tastic designs. According to Espionage Cosmetics representatives, NAILED IT! is designed for “those of us who don’t have the time or talent to make our nails look like a Pinterest board.”

NAILED IT! is designed with you and your crazy eclectic, nerdy interests in mind. How about these gems: Cthulhu-inspired glitter tentacle wraps; turtle nails with glitter masks and googly eyes (googly eyes!); zombie nails dripping with glitter blood… and that’s just the first level of products available for pre-order on the Kickstarter.

Not just another Kickstarter. Espionage representatives say, “We know everyone is so tired of hearing about Kickstarter. That’s why we’re using this like a pre-order. Instead of rewards, you get the actual product, and help to fund the line for other customers.” Espionage Cosmetics is aiming for a goal of $20,000 in pre-orders with an “unlock achievement” feature, where sales past the goal unlock bigger rewards for all subscribers. As soon as the first achievement is unlocked, everyone who has ordered product at or above $100 automatically gets more nail-art—for free!—in their cart.

After the Kickstarter, for those who can’t make it to Espionage Cosmetics table at a convention, your best bet is to head over to ThinkGeek.com… they’ll be carrying the entire line in fall 2013.

The NAILED IT! Kickstarter includes products and rewards at every price point, from $15 to $10,000 and several points in-between. What does that get you? Some examples: $15 for a single nail-art set; $200 for a grab bag of Espionage Cosmetics products valued at $300; at $10,000 you can “Get Espionage’d.” At that level, you’re invited into Espionage Cosmetics design studios where the creative team (whose work has been published in Rolling Stone and other big-name publications) will design and shoot a photo concept for you, including professional wardrobe, hair, make-up, and graphic design. “This offer is ideal for people who are rebranding an existing product, getting started with a new business, or for anyone who just wants to live out an ultimate cosplay or fantasy photo-shoot experience.

Nerd-inspired designs, you say? Other NAILED IT! designs to look forward to include: Cats (“the Internet on your nails,” in high-quality photo format), chain mail, circuit boards, and full sets of glitter nails in versatile colors specifically designed for cosplayers (Black Widow? Wonder Woman? Covered). Espionage reps say they’re especially excited about the Nebula Nails set: wraps bursting with neon cloud
swirls and black holes. “You can find galaxy designs all over Pinterest and the Internet, but none of them are real, existing nebulas. We’re nerds and we like accuracy, so we scoured the night sky for the prettiest, coolest nebulas.”

Espionage Cosmetics: All girl, all nerd, all amazing. Espionage Cosmetics is a small, woman-owned business based in Tacoma, Washington, creating make-up for nerds, by nerds. “We’re a niche make-up company,” say Espionage representatives. “We have other things going on besides the perfect eyeliner. You’ll see us where we hang out, where our customers hang out. We’re at comic book stores and conventions.” …with the perfect glitter eyeliner, of course. Like you have to ask.

Founded in 2011, the company has seen enormous growth in their niche nerd market. In the last year alone, Espionage Cosmetics has expanded from a living-room operation to a Tacoma-based studio space with 3 fulltime women employees. Bi-monthly product launches and fully produced ad campaigns pour out of the studio manned by a full-time wardrobe master/cosplay expert, an interns and conventions coordinator, and the CEO/artistic director/marketing coordinator (her business card says Glitter Jedi).

NAILED IT! nail art is the latest Espionage Cosmetics product line, joining the newly released lip-gloss lines and the Espionage staple, “Everything Shadow,” a large range of mineral make-up colors that can all be used for 17 different cosmetic uses and counting. Everything Shadow has been featured on the Geeky Hostess, Fashionably Geek, and by popular youtube stars. Espionage also continues to draw clientele from high-profile Nerd Celebrities, including Bonnie Burton, Felicia Day, Chloe Dykstra from Heroes of Cosplay on Sci-Fi
network, and Ashly Burch (the voice of Tiny Tina on Borderlands 2).

Last words? Kickstarter pre-orders will be delivered in December 2013.

“Apocalypse? We’ve all been there. The same old trips, why should we care?”

-I’ve Got a Theory, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Once More with Feeling)

It’s here, guys. The big one. 2012. There hasn’t been so much stigma around a year since… Well? 2000. Which really wasn’t that long ago… Huh. Our Generation is really full of doom-sayers, aren’t we? I mean, when you think about it, we’re giving The Slayer a run for her money when it comes to encounters with the apocalypse. I’ve lost count of how many times the world was supposed to end but didn’t. Still, if I talked about how just because the Mayan Calendar ends in 2012, it doesn’t mean that the entire world will, it wouldn’t be a terribly fun article, now would it? No, I didn’t think so either.

It’s tradition to make resolutions come the New Year. It’s something we’ve sort of been conditioned to dally with since we could remember. It’s also that thing we usually never end up taking seriously and forget about sometime between Mid-February and March. But this year is different, my friend. This is your last chance. It’s ending. The world is going to be swallowed by the sun and you have exactly one year to do whatever it is you’ve been trying to do every year prior but lacked the motivation. The world ending is significant motivation, right? Maybe not.

The world of Style seems to be taking the Apocalypse head on as the Pantone Color Institute (Yep, it’s a real thing) announced that ‘Tangerine Tango’ would be the “encouraging” top color for the year. Their hope being that the orangey-red hue will give us optimism for the next 12-months. If you ask me it looks a wee bit more like the firey blaze of destruction than optimism, but whatever, to each their own.

It does seem almost violently appropriate though, doesn’t it? To celebrate the world ending, we’re going to adorn ourselves in hazard-sign orange. Don a hard hat. Watch out for falling buildings. Wear bright colors so cards can see you.

I know for one part of my new years resolution, I probably won’t be buying into the trend of this color and letting it infect my wardrobe. Maybe if it were more along the lines of the sweet Tangerine of Clementine Kruczynski’s (Kate Winslet) hair in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I’d be more inclined. Hey, that kinda rhymed. Totally not intentional.

So while my fellow fashion lovers will be entering the New Year like walking traffic cones, I’d like to propose a different approach. Let’s ditch caution for a little bit, not entirely, just give it the slip now and then. All those damn things we want to do but we’re scared to? The world is ending, isn’t it scarier that you might die having never done any of it? And hell, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the Mayans were wrong–they did die out long before their calendar said they would, after all. But even if I am, your life will continue on… Only now maybe you’ve got a little more courage.

Frankly, what can’t you do? You’ve survived countless world endings, what’s more epic than that? Take 2012 on, my friend. Beat back personal demons and conquer. Let the world try to end. It’s still gonna be our year.

The past couple of days, I’ve been in a really sore spot. The whole controversy surrounding the Geek and Gamer Girls video has really left me quite upset and on the verge of many epic rants. It has caused me to feel as if I have to apologize for the fact that I an a nerd trapped in a cute petite figure, that my face is not bad to look at, that I’m proud of the way I look and don’t mind showing it off. I find it so very odd and disheartening that it is the women who I receive judgment from and not the men. I’ve even lost female Twitter followers for voicing my valid opinion on this whole matter.

The judgment comes from the same women who claim to be speaking up for all women, want to have a sense of belonging, do not want to be judged for how they look and yet here I am, being judged and given passive-aggressive messages that I cannot be proud of how I look. I’ve never had to fight for my place with fellow nerd men. They’ve always just accepted me without any explanations or my having to defend my nerdom. I cannot say the same for women. Once upon a time, I had to fight to show that I’m uber intelligent and that I’m not just a pretty face. Now, the opposite is happening. I’ve never had a man question my nerdhood but I’m constantly having to try and validate it to women, being told how I can and cannot behave and being told what it should mean to me to be a female nerd.

Then I am left to shake my head because I just don’t understand the venom I receive from people who claim to want inclusiveness. I don’t understand why we are fighting each other within the nerd/geek community for acceptance. I think it is safe to assume that we do accept each other. The issue is how the outside world perceives us. And how do you expect the outside world to accept who we are when we can’t even accept each other on an as is basis within our own community? I hate to say this, but the fighting I see withing the nerd community reminds me a lot of the fighting I see among different religious groups over what it means and what you have to do in order to call yourself a (insert religious label here).

And to make me even angrier about outsiders are those who think they can cash in on the nerd/geek culture. I was having a conversation last night with a fellow Nerd in Babeland because I was really upset. I had to defend myself and the way I look to fellow nerds on Twitter. And they could see that I needed someone to talk to, someone who would actually listen to how I feel and am made to feel (even if irrationally) over this whole topic. While we were talking, I was doing my nightly search for who has linked to Geeky Pleasures or where it has been mentioned when I came across the following article:

Are you a real geek? Are you proud of being a geek? You can be cute (or sexy), yet embrace your geeky style. Geek fashion refers to the embracing of stereotypically unpopular “geek” characteristics such as glasses. They dress almost identical to hipsters but verge more towards being into comic books, pop culture, technology, etc. rather than hipsters who are more into poetry, brooding, and generally being pretentious. The definition: Well, basically, you take key pieces of a typically geeky wardrobe and wear them with purpose and aplomb, to make a point. Not because you’re clueless and out of the fashion loop, not because you can’t afford Ralph Lauren — because you want to. Think thick black glasses, pinstriped suits with skinny ties, sweater vests, and pocket protectors — a hipster vibe with a nerdy edge. T-shirts with slogans like “There’s no place like 127.0.0.1” (the IP address of your home machine) make the cut. It’s about reclaiming the geek identity as something not only meaningful, but also stylish. This look is so wrong that it looks right. And it’s the whole purpose of the trend, really. Geek chic celebrities include people like Tina Fey and Andy Samberg. It is highly debatable whether this trend actually means that “real geeks” are more popular than they were previously, or if it merely represents a superficial addition of “nerdy” elements to current fashion trends. Many elements that arguably define “geekiness”, such as varying degrees of social awkwardness, mathematical ability, strong interest in science and/or science fiction and fantasy, and varying degrees of disinterest in one’s personal appearance, remain unfashionable. Similar trends have often occurred in the past; for example, French Orientalism and exoticism of the 19th century incorporated visual elements from Asian and African cultures, but did not necessarily imply that people from these cultures were themselves viewed as fashionable. Much of the geek chic image borrows from various alternative youth subcultures such as emo, preppy, goth, hippie, and bohemian amongst others. You can mix geek chick with many other styles. Don’t limit yourself!

This is what we should be fighting! The outside world telling us, not only what it means to dress in a geeky or nerdy way, but also trying to cash in on it! And to make it even worse, are the following lines:

Think thick black glasses, pinstriped suits with skinny ties, sweater vests, and pocket protectors — a hipster vibe with a nerdy edge. T-shirts with slogans like “There’s no place like 127.0.0.1” (the IP address of your home machine) make the cut. It’s about reclaiming the geek identity as something not only meaningful, but also stylish. This look is so wrong that it looks right.

I’m all for fighting for acceptance from the outside world. But not if it is at the loss of our identity or having people attempt to cash in on it. And as overall, I have no issue with people wanting to dress like “us”, I have huge issue with being told that being intelligent and liking the things that cause me to squee and become stupid with giddy is not “fashionable”. If the “cool” kids want to play with us, fabulous. Don’t mock us in the process. Because it leaves me to want to take our toys (you know all those great advancement in technology that you “cool” people take for granted on a daily basis, which we nerds built) and go home!

Let’s stop fighting with each other. Let’s stop dictating to each other how we should behave in order to call ourselves geeks and nerds. Let’s actually unite and accept each other. Let’s combat the real issues here such as the outside world, that despite saying we are becoming more accepted as a subculture/group of people, still preys upon us, using us as the next cash cow to exploit.